Do you think there is more, less, or the same blade vibration in a Gem with a PTFE vs Grande with a favourite blade?
Less vibration in my MMOC. Much less in my Bullet Tip. I cant detect any flex in it. My Grande with a fresh Feather is pretty good but angle is much more critical in regards to blade flex.
Does anyone sharpen their PTFE’s?
I've tried sharpening a carbon blade but not a PTFE. I cant say I've felt the need.
Well I just tested that on my stone. I left the pics at their full resolution.
These blades are surprisingly hard with a dual bevel. I'm not so surprised they were a tuggy now.
First pic is the blade edge after I shaved with it, then on the stone, and then after. I started with 30 strokes on the stone per side, dropping by one stroke each time the blade was flipped and finished with one stroke each side for ten strokes to keep the edge even, drawing it towards me to eliminate any wire edge forming.
You can see in the third pic, left side of the blade, how the edge is just starting to polish. I'll keep working on this blade just to satisfy my own possibly twisted curiosity lol, but I wont be doing this with each blade! Hopefully I'll have it honed to perfection in 48 hours for my next shave! lol
Second shave with the same blade after about 20 minutes on my whetstone.
First WTG pass, first stroke I thought to myself "ah yes, this is better". Still slightly tuggy below my jawline but finished the first pass with the only issue being the vacuum lock of the cap to my skin lol. This cap needs flutes so that doesnt happen.
Second pass XTG, tuggy again but I shaved through it. I did stop after that pass to flip the blade. Wipe and check and had considerable stubble still left. Lather up for directly ATG and very tuggy. I did finish that pass but wasnt where I had hoped to be and I didnt want to do another 3-4 passes with that blade so I switched to the SC with a Derby that had one shave on it.
Even shaving WTG the SC found uncut stubble which surprised me because I couldnt feel it with my hand. Another ATG pass and a single touch up and that was that.
For those of you that can shave with these blades, all the power to you but I sure cant. I really hope the PTFE are sharper.
I'm wondering if maybe this razor is just too mild? If I used a steeper angle it became even more tuggy and unusable to me. Not sure what I'm doing wrong, if anything. I really think these particular blades just cant do it for me.
Do you use the same speed in your stroke on both a Gem & Grande?
With a PTFE in either GEM and a Fresh Feather in my Grande yes. However, my strokes are twice as long with my MMOC than with either my Bullet Tip or Grande/Feather.
What blade do you use in the Grande?
Any for a three pass shave, really, although I have my favorites. Feather for a single shave. Derby Extra, (the evil old green packaging everyone loves to hate), Polsilver, Gillette Black, the usual suspects. Any blade will do for a three pass shave as long as its not a GSB or Graham Field.
Single pass ATG, Polsilver is King. Gillette Yellow is also good but Polsilver just has more....muscle. Derby Extra is a no go! lol